Category Archives: food & drink

phoebe & oli

09 Tuesday Jul 2019

Posted by in food & drink, friends, sevilla, sherry, spain, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Although I have met up with Phoebe & Oli a few times while visiting London, and they have both been to Sevilla separately, this is the first time we have all met up together here. Yay!

It was a lovely day starting off with – what else? sherry and jamón – which led to a lunchtime tapeo (Las Teresas, La Barra del Inchausti, Palo Cortao). Finishing around 5 pm we took a break before meeting up again at 8.30. The plan had been to introduce them to Esteban and his fabulous vermutería Yo Soy Tu Padre and then leave them to have dinner elsewhere, but somehow one vermouth led to another, and we finished up eating rabbit ribs at La Azotea at 11 pm. Like you do.

These guys are doing a Spain roadtrip before they head back to London, pack up, and move to Australia, where Phoebe is from. So I guess that means no more London meet ups, but they assure me they will be back to Spain again before too long.

back in the kitchen

12 Wednesday Jun 2019

Posted by in azahars kitchen, casa azahar, food & drink

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Some of you may know that one of my (too many?) websites is azahar’s kitchen, a recipe blog that I started back in 2009. It’s “moved house” a couple of times over the years, from WP.com to my own hosted sites.

Some of you may also be aware of a recent flutter of activity on that blog, which started after I published a new recipe (requested by my friend Ann when she saw a pic of my albóndigas al oloroso on social media). Then I found a bunch of photos that I had filed away for “later”, so I have added text to those and put them up too. There are still a couple to go.

This is totally a “hobby blog” just because I enjoy cooking, and also sharing the recipes I come up with (sometimes on my own, more usually a combination of several recipes I’ve found online or in books, which then get edited into one I prefer. So drop by and have a look. You can also subscribe to be notified when new recipes go up.  🙂

tim is back!

03 Monday Jun 2019

Posted by in food & drink, friends, sevilla

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

This is Tim’s @biltawulf third time in Sevilla. We first met (in person, before that we were Twitter pals) in 2016 when he came here with his friend Ed and took a tapas tour with me. The next year he was back with a group of friends to celebrate a Special Birthday. I also saw him a couple of weeks ago in London when I revisted Maltby Street Market.

This time Tim was supposed to be here with our mutual friend John @cityjohn, who I also saw in London during the last getaway, but sadly John had to be elsewhere this week. So Tim and I are doing our best to make him jealous with lots of sunny Sevilla pics while he shivers in the Scottish rain. It’s going to be a busy few days with Tim, which started off with a couple of cold beers followed by a nice evening tapeo. On Tuesday I’ll be taking him out on a sherry & tapas tour, after which he’s going to do a cooking class. And on his final day… who knows? Nice having him back in town.  🙂

the finca buenvino cookbook

01 Saturday Jun 2019

Posted by in books, cooking, food & drink

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

While I was at Finca Buenvino I also picked up my very own (signed!!) copy of their wonderful cookbook. An unpretentious gem of a book, you will fall in love not only with the homespun recipes, but also with the history behind this beautiful guest house and its charming and welcoming hosts.

You can get yours here…

The Buenvino Cookbook: Recipes from our farmhouse in Spain

finca buenvino

31 Friday May 2019

Posted by in andalucia, food & drink, friends, getaways

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

Sam & Jeannie Chesterton

I’ve been virtual friends with Jeannie @jeanniechesterton and Sam @samchesterton on social media for years and have been wanting to visit their Finca Buenvino ever since  I first heard of it. So when Alexis @evoo_workshop said she was heading up there to do an olive oil tasting, and J & S invited me for lunch, I naturally jumped at the chance.

It turned out that the people who were to be Alexis’s olive oil clients were also doing a photo shoot at Finca Buenvino, and the photographer was none other than Tim Clinch @clinchpics, who I had met here in Sevilla a couple of years ago, and who is also a close friend of Jeannie & Sam.

Aside from being the Chesterton’s family home for more than 35 years, Finca Buenvino is also a peaceful mountain retreat, nestled in the hills in Huelva, just a short drive from Sevilla. There are two self-catering cottages on the grounds, as well as six B&B rooms in the main house, with various activities available, including cooking classes run by Jeannie.

While Alexis did her tasting I wandered around the gorgeous sprawling house and grounds, including a trip over to the spectacular salt water infinity pool, followed by the Buenvino dogs, until it was time for lunch. Which was fabulous. Along with the house guests, we were joined by the Chesterton sons, Sam, who shares cooking duties with his mother, and Jago, who works at nearby Cinco Jotas, producer of exquisite Jamón Ibérico de Bellota.

It was a spendid day in the country, and one that I hope I can repeat again soon. Thanks for the wonderful hospitality Los Chestertons, and thanks to Alexis for taking me there and back again. Photos below…

Continue reading →